Relationship between hopelessness and ultimate suicide: a replication with psychiatric outpatients.
A prospective study of 1,958 outpatients found that hopelessness, as measured by the Beck Hopelessness Scale, was significantly related to eventual suicide. A scale cutoff score of 9 or above identified 16 (94.2%) of the 17 patients who eventually committed suicide, thus replicating a previous study with hospitalized patients. The high-risk group identified by this cutoff score was 11 times more likely to commit suicide than the rest of the outpatients. The Beck Hopelessness Scale thus may be used as a sensitive indicator of suicide potential.
Beck
A T
AT
Center for Cognitive Therapy, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia 19104.
Brown
G
G
Berchick
R J
RJ
Stewart
B L
BL
Steer
R A
RA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology*